Antibiotics Cause Moderate, Temporary Gut Microbiome Shifts in Rural Vietnamese

Antibiotic use is a critical public health tool, but its impact on the gut microbiota – the community of microorganisms living in the digestive tract – is a growing concern due to potential long-term health consequences. While many studies focus on Western populations, less is known about these effects in diverse, non-Western settings where dietary habits and baseline microbiomes may differ. This study addresses how antibiotic exposure affects the gut microbiome's diversity and composition in a rural Vietnamese cohort, providing crucial insights into microbial resilience in a unique population.

The study revealed a moderate and transient impact of antibiotic use on the gut microbiota. During antibiotic exposure, microbial diversity, as measured by the Shannon index, showed an average reduction of 25-35% compared to baseline (p<0.001). This reduction was accompanied by a significant decrease in the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Bacteroides (down ~40%) and Bifidobacterium (down ~30%), while opportunistic pathogens like Enterobacteriaceae saw a 2-3-fold increase. The most important finding was that the gut microbiota largely recovered to baseline diversity levels within 1-3 months post-antibiotic cessation, with ~80-95% of individuals showing significant restoration of microbial richness. However, ~10-15% of participants exhibited more prolonged shifts in specific bacterial groups, indicating individual variability in recovery.